1. Field
A highly efficient thermoelectric material having enhanced thermoelectric properties is disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
The thermoelectric phenomenon is a reversible and direct energy conversion between heat and electricity, and is caused by movement of electrons and holes inside a material.
The thermoelectric phenomenon is classified into the Peltier effect and the Seebeck effect. The Peltier effect can be used to provide cooling by using a temperature difference between ends of a thermoelectric material. The temperature difference is driven by an externally applied electric current. The Seebeck effect can be used to provide electricity generation by using an electromotive force generated from a temperature difference between ends of a thermoelectric material. The applied temperature difference causes charged carriers to diffuse from a hot side to a cold side. Charged carriers migrating to the cold side leave behind their oppositely charged nuclei, which causes a thermoelectric voltage.
Recently, a thermoelectric material has been applied to provide an active cooling system for semiconductor equipment and other heat generating electronic devices having a thermal management needs that are difficult to satisfy with a passive cooling system. Thermoelectric coolers are increasingly being used where suitable thermal management is difficult to provide with a conventional coolant gas compression system, such as a temperature control system for DNA analysis, where precise temperature control is desirable.
Thermoelectric cooling avoids the use of a coolant gas that causes an environmental problem, and causes no vibration or noise, and thus is environmentally friendly. However, there remains a need for a thermoelectric material with improved efficiency to provide improved cooling efficiency, so that thermoelectric cooling may be more widely applied to residential or commercial cooling, such as for a freezer, an air conditioner, and the like.
In addition, a thermoelectric material can be used to generate electricity due to a temperature difference between ends of the thermoelectric material when used where heat is discharged, e.g., in an auto engine, an industrial factory, and the like, and thus has gained attention as a new energy source.
Such thermoelectric generation systems have already been used in space explorers to Mars, Saturn, and the like, which cannot use solar energy.